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ROME — U.Okay. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak likened Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Margaret Thatcher as he known as on European leaders to channel the outdated Conservative British chief’s “radicalism” and problem decades-old guidelines round refugees.
“Thatcher understood that concepts are solely necessary if they are often carried out,” Sunak mentioned in a speech on the governing Brothers of Italy celebration’s right-wing Atreju competition in Rome. “She by no means backed down even when the combat was exhausting, and at present we now have to use Thatcher’s radicalism to unlawful immigration.”
Each leaders have put migration entrance and middle since they took workplace in November 2022. Final month, Meloni brokered a deal to course of asylum purposes in neighboring Albania; and earlier this week the U.Okay. gained parliamentary acceptance for its contentious plan to deport sure migrants to Rwanda.
“If we don’t sort out this drawback, the numbers will solely develop,” Sunak mentioned in a brief speech on Saturday. “It is going to overwhelm our international locations and our capability to assist those that really want our assist probably the most. If that requires us to replace our legal guidelines and lead a global dialog to amend the post-war frameworks round asylum, then we should try this.”
Behind the scenes, Sunak and Meloni additionally agreed on the necessity to deepen cooperation with a purpose to “sort out unlawful immigration to Europe in an more and more structured method” and likewise work collectively on repatriating migrants, in keeping with an announcement from Downing Road circulated concurrently Sunak’s speech.
Meloni will profit politically from Sunak’s patronage of the Atreju competition, an annual occasion based in 1998 by the precursor of the far-right Brothers of Italy celebration which has since grow to be a mainstream political convention underneath the management of Meloni.
The 2 leaders have grow to be politically shut, with Sunak hailing his “robust friendship” with the Italian chief, noting that she was elected at roughly the identical time as him and is likely one of the solely different “center-right” leaders in Europe. He even embraced his Italian counterpart as he headed offstage.
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